Chapter 12: Preemptive Deployment Plan

【Current Mechanical Heart Level: LV.1210/500】

【Tip: Upgrading the Mechanical Heart grants special skill rewards. At LV.3, LV.6, and LV.9, a mysterious awakening is triggered.】

【Base Attributes】

【Strength: LV.127/50】

【Speed: LV.18/50】

【Defense: LV.018/30】

【Current Basic Skills】

【Mechanical Devour: LV.1278/300】

【Mechanical Fabrication: LV.1112/300】

【Mechanical Scan (Passive)】

【Mechanical Repair (Passive)】

【Mechanical Operation (Passive)】

【Special Skills】

【Wind Cannon: LV.112/100】

“That doesn’t make sense—I used Wind Cannon twice on that white monster, how did it jump so much?”

Lin Xian stared at the Wind Cannon proficiency rising to 12, and for a moment doubted his own sanity.

He’d assumed it gained one point per use, never expecting such a sudden leap.

“Could it be that in moments of extreme danger, my mastery of skills improves dramatically?”

After pondering it, Lin Xian felt this hypothesis was likely correct.

Meanwhile, devouring a small-displacement truck yielded enormous gains: 30 Mechanical Source Points, 10 Devour proficiency points, and even a 12-point attribute boost!

It was pure profit.

“Fuck, if I had a parking lot, I’d work 996 nonstop—no breaks at all…”

Lin Xian muttered bitterly in his mind.

But he knew it was just a fantasy.

If not for some stroke of absurd luck, he couldn’t fathom how he’d survived that encounter.

The monster had likely stood beside him for some time—he’d definitely heard movement earlier.

Perhaps because he’d stayed perfectly still, the creature hadn’t attacked immediately.

Otherwise, he’d already be a skewered kebab.

Indeed, high risk means high reward.

One vehicle took Lin Xian at least an hour and a half—requiring intense focus and massive physical exertion. Now, in Jiang City under the Dark Tide’s influence, daylight lasted less than four hours a day.

He didn’t have the time or opportunity to slowly devour vehicles. Once night fell, who knew what horrors would emerge?

“What if I pull a freight car and devour it slowly at night…” A thought occurred to him.

But he quickly dismissed it.

“Hmm… no, no way!”

“Empty freight cars are just metal frames—they yield almost nothing. Unless I pull a locomotive…”

“But devouring a hundred-ton locomotive would take forever. Would I even have enough stamina?”

Over the past few months, Lin Xian had devised many plans, but applying them in reality revealed how much more complex they were than he’d imagined.

15:00

The sky suddenly brightened as Jiang City received a brief dawn.

The entire city lay silent. Lin Xian gazed northwest from the intercity line, where darkness still clung like a vast storm.

Lin Xian knew that direction was Lucheng, toward Dingzhou—the region that vanished earliest on the Day of Revelation.

Because that was the center of No. 3 “Star Abyss”!

Compared to its people, Jiang City—now a ruin—was almost lucky. At least it gave many citizens time to flee; some survivors still clung to life.

Lin Xian remembered visiting Lucheng once for tourism; its rice noodles and barbecue were unforgettable.

Yet these human cultural symbols turned to ash instantly in the apocalypse.

Sunlight slipped through the armor gaps of the window, falling on Chen Sixuan’s face. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing Lin Xian welding a bed frame, and immediately sat up in shock, apologizing with deep guilt:

“I’m sorry… Lin Xian, did I oversleep…?”

“It’s fine.” Lin Xian didn’t turn around. “I saw you were exhausted, and last night was unusual—that thing might come back. I didn’t wake you.”

Even now, with daylight, Lin Xian still felt uneasy.

That white monster might pierce through his steel fortress. Even if Chen Sixuan stayed awake, it wouldn’t help.

His immediate priority was to strengthen “Infinity’s” defenses and rapidly increase his own power.

“You… didn’t sleep all night?”

Lin Xian finished welding the metal frame, stood up, and handed Chen Sixuan a bottle of water. “Today we’ll pass through Jiang City’s freight loading zone. Things might get messy there—prepare yourself mentally.”

“Okay.” Chen Sixuan, still filled with guilt, nodded quickly. “I’ll stick with you today.”

“No. I need you to help with something else.” Lin Xian led Chen Sixuan to the cab. He had already started “Infinity,” which was moving slowly. As they traveled, he said:

“This main line joins the Jiangyu line without switching tracks. If possible, today I plan to tow an electric locomotive. I’ll need to get off and manually operate the turnout switch. When coupling the cars, I need you to trigger the coupling command.”

Lin Xian patiently explained the control buttons to Chen Sixuan.

“This is release, this is alignment coupling, this is track docking, this is passage test…”

These technical terms weren’t unfamiliar to Chen Sixuan—she’d grown up immersed in railway knowledge from her father. She knew the coupling procedure, but hearing about it was one thing; actually doing it was her first time.

So she listened intently, afraid of missing even the smallest detail.

Coupling cars was extremely complex for Lin Xian—he couldn’t simultaneously control two cars using the Mechanical Heart, and to switch tracks, he had to exit and manually operate the turnout switch.

But once he stepped out, “Infinity” lost power. His only option was to push it forward manually while keeping the electric locomotive’s coupling and buffer hooks in release mode.

Under these conditions, he’d have to run back and forth between both vehicles…

Also, if he found such an electric locomotive, he had to place it behind the gas turbine, before Car No. 1.

Because the Whale 03e’s head already had armor plating, and the heavy gas turbine was tougher than the electric locomotive—it had to go in the second position.

!

Overall, this operation was complex. Alone, Lin Xian would need a full day. With Chen Sixuan, he could save half a day.

Clank. Clank.

The train slowly rolled out of the urban core toward Jiang City Station.

Beyond the city, the view opened up—several major highways appeared before them.

But in an instant, both Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan froze.

Tens of thousands of cars lined the highways, completely blocking them—blood, severed limbs, burning chassis, scattered luggage and clothing—all told them the escape routes had become a hellscape.

The darkness had passed, leaving no living souls. The hills and plains teemed with wandering zombies.

“Those who could’ve escaped already did. The rest were trapped.”

The escape routes were utterly blocked. Unless you drove a tank or took some unknown backroad, the only way out was on foot.

But the Dark Night drew nearer—daylight now lasted barely three hours. How far could you get on foot?

Or even if you escaped the city, what then when night fell?

The monsters of the night left even Lin Xian, an adept, powerless—let alone ordinary people.

Watching the horrific scene on the highways, Chen Sixuan’s eyes trembled. She turned to the clear railway ahead, and inwardly rejoiced—she was grateful to have met Lin Xian, and even more grateful to have boarded this train.

The slowly moving train drew the attention of survivors hiding in nearby buildings. Several quiet glances fell upon it; whispers began.

“A train? Impossible!”

“Where did it come from…?”

“Stop! Stop!” Someone shouted from a building.

“Take me! I have supplies!”

“Quiet! You’ll attract the zombies!”

“Close the windows!!”

Clang~

Some even threw stones at the train, screaming hysterically:

“Stop! Let me on!”

“Will they… come to rob us?” Hearing the stones strike, Chen Sixuan asked nervously.

“They’re not here to flatter us.” Lin Xian replied coolly.

In the apocalypse, fighting over supplies until one side dies wasn’t unusual.

Survival Rule Three: Let your comrade die, not yourself.

“Lin, look…” Chen Sixuan’s voice was beautiful. Every time she spoke, Lin Xian felt more certain he’d made the right choice saving her. Her presence on this desperate journey lifted his spirits, reminding him of how she’d once sat in school, black-rimmed glasses on, frowning seriously as she explained vocabulary to him.

Hearing her voice, Lin Xian looked up—and his pupils contracted.

It was snowing.

Outside the train, snowflakes drifted down, landing on the window and melting into tiny droplets.

“Has winter come?” Chen Sixuan stared blankly out the window at the falling snow, murmuring to herself.

According to season, winter was still months away.

But Jiang City had grown colder these past days. Now, as delicate snowflakes drifted down, Lin Xian’s heart tightened—his fears were not unfounded.

Besides darkness, zombies, and strangeness, another disaster began to descend as the region’s climate changed.

Natural disaster!

If extreme ice and cold arrived, the trouble would be more than just the chill—it meant people would need more food to maintain body heat, and the train would require more energy to operate.

If extreme low temperatures occurred, the train would even need heating systems installed.

“Shit…” Lin Xian cursed inwardly—he had been planning to find a refrigerator to store food, but now it seemed he wouldn’t need one at all…

New book, please follow and read!

(End of chapter)